Don't think about oil drilling without conservation
By THOMAS R. HOLM and KEVIN PROESCHOLDT
SPECIAL TO THE REGISTER

October 27, 2005


In coming weeks, Congress once again will debate whether to drill for oil in 
the United States’ last great arctic wilderness — the Arctic National 
Wildlife Refuge in Alaska. The Izaak Walton League of America, a national 
conservation group of hunters and anglers with equal numbers of Republicans, 
Democrats, and independents, opposes the proposal.

The Arctic Refuge itself offers many reasons to resist, such as its 
spectacular wilderness, wildlife and other natural resources. A great refuge 
like the Arctic should be last on the list of places to drill. But the 
League also believes that drilling should not happen without an equally 
aggressive program of national energy conservation. Without such measures, 
we will squander the Arctic Refuge merely to extend our profligate and 
wasteful energy habits.

Drilling in the refuge will not reduce our nation’s dependence on foreign 
oil by more than 1 percent, according to the U. S. Department of Energy. The 
DOE estimates that in 2015, the U.S. will need to import 63 percent of its 
oil. If drilling oil in the refuge is approved, according to the DOE, we 
still will need to import 62 percent.

A responsible conservation plan could reduce our oil dependence by much 
more. For example:

• Increasing automobile fuel-efficiency standards by 40 percent by 2015 
would save the nation many times more oil than is available in the refuge. 
Hybrid autos on the road today already achieve this level of fuel economy 
with no loss of performance. This technology could easily be made standard 
equipment for cars and most trucks by 2015.

• Adding incentives to help homeowners reduce the amount of energy needed 
for heating and cooling is a proven method of reducing energy demand. Yet 
energy-wasting homes with inadequate insulation or poorly designed 
architecture are still built every day.

• Improving appliance efficiency easily pays for any increased cost of the 
item, usually with a handsome bonus. A 1987 law signed by President Reagan 
required minimum efficiency standards for 17 common appliances. Yet 
standards for 14 of those appliances have still not been established.

Saving energy saves consumers money. It keeps billions of dollars and 
thousands of jobs in this country.

It also reduces the pollution caused by energy use and produces substantial 
public-health benefits in the process. If you cut energy use, you 
simultaneously cut air pollution from not burning that fuel. Last year, the 
White House Office of Management and Budget estimated that every dollar 
invested in clean air returns $5 to $7 in benefits, mostly due to 
human-health improvement.

Even before President Theodore Roosevelt began establishing national parks, 
forests and wildlife refuges a century ago, Americans supported protecting 
special places like the refuge. Drilling for oil will harm not only the 
refuge, but also our legacy for future generations.

In the absence of a responsible and comprehensive program to improve energy 
efficiency and advance clean, renewable resources, Congress should reject 
any proposal to drill for oil and gas resources in the Arctic National 
Wildlife Refuge. It is simply time to walk away from measures that embrace 
the follies of our past, provide no lasting benefit for our future and 
continue to compromise the health of our natural environment and all of us 
who depend upon it.

THOMAS R. HOLM of Des Moines is a national director of the Izaak Walton 
League and a member of the League’s Public Lands Committee.

KEVIN PROESCHOLDT, an Iowa native, directs the League’s Wilderness and 
Public Lands Program in St. Paul, Minn.

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